Murray has been mostly mum in recent weeks, sitting on the cold floor in a corner of the locker room day after day, gangly arms wrapped around knobby knees, staring at his feet. It’s been nice to see him in such a good mood.

Meanwhile, his countrymen -- and I don’t just mean the Scots -- have been in a panic. The Daily Mail finally talked itself off the ledge on Monday by deciding that Murray’s failure "to win a match in three straight tournaments may benefit his clay-court season, enabling him to get two weeks of practice on his least favoured surface."

Life has a way of getting in the way of our plans, as we know. In tennis, a player’s form can be a mysterious thing. Last summer, Nadal lost in the quarters in Cincy to Marcos Baghdatis and in the semis in Canada to Murray. He appeared to be suffering a post-Wimbledon letdown and, seeing as he had consistently swooned in New York, you had to like Roger Federer’s and Murray’s chances at Flushing Meadows. Rafa, of course, won the U.S. Open without breaking a sweat. Along the same lines, after the World Tour Finals last November, who would have pegged Novak Djokovic to reel off wins in Australia, Indian Wells and Miami this season?

So, who knows, maybe Murray can win Monte Carlo this week. OK, that was a good one. But I disagree that clay is his least favored surface. He spent some of his formative years on Spanish clay, and his counter-punching style is classic Continental Europe. I’d say grass is probably his least favored surface, seeing as he only plays on it at home -- where the expectations for his ultimate doom (these are Brits we’re talking about) are sky-high.

"Everything today pleased me," Murray said today after winning his first match -- his first set -- since January. "I played very well, hit the ball deep and everything was good for the first match on clay. It was perfect."

Perfect. You surely didn’t expect to hear that word come out of Murray’s mouth, did you? But it’s the right word. You never know what might happen if you take things one day at a time -- you might just end up on the mountaintop.